Jonathan Taylor didn’t sugarcoat what the Colts saw in their season-opening loss to the Ravens. After Baltimore rolled to 41 points and put the game away by halftime, Taylor called it exactly what it looked like: a reset button for Indianapolis after its eighth straight defeat, a skid that stretches back to last season.
“Definitely an eye-opener, definitely a wakeup call,” Taylor said via the team’s website. “Like, hey, season’s here. Obviously we know no one’s gonna give us anything, but it’s a good team over there and it’s like, hey, doesn’t matter what you guys did last year, you gotta prove it again this year.”
In Jacksonville, Parker Washington showed the kind of focus that can keep a player locked in even when the business side gets messy. The Jaguars and Washington’s camp couldn’t reach an agreement on a contract extension before Week 1, but none of that showed up on the field. He finished as Jacksonville’s top receiver in the opener, catching five passes for 83 yards and a touchdown.
Trevor Lawrence praised how Washington handled the situation, saying, “You wouldn’t even know that’s going on with him (by) just the way he carries himself,” Lawrence said via Jacksonville.com’s Ryan O’Halloran. “He’s been the same guy.
Comes to work every day. Does everything the right way.
Just really impressed with how he’s handled it, but not surprised… He’s a worker and he’s a stud.”
In Houston, DeMeco Ryans pointed the finger at a defensive line that didn’t meet the standard in the Texans’ loss to the Bills. Ryans said Buffalo did a strong job early of taking that group out of the game, though he liked the way the rush responded later.
“ For us starting the game, I thought they did a really good job of really neutralizing our defensive line, ” Ryans said, via Texans Wire. “ Second half, I thought the defensive line picked it up really well, really affected the quarterback a lot more in the second half, which is what we were used to doing.
We have to be tighter in our coverage. The rush and coverage works together.
We have to give the defensive line a little more time. Of course, they had more max protection, shot plays, where they were throwing the ball up.
We had opportunities to make those plays and they came down with them.”
In Other News...
Colts Week 1 Loss Put Early Pressure On Three Key Names
The Colts 41-23 loss to Baltimore did more than open the season on a sour note. It also put an early spotlight on three players whose roles and expectations already carried plenty of weight, with rookie Justin Walley and Sauce Gardner drawing attention on the back end and Tyler Warren trying to live up to the buzz surrounding his arrival.
Walley had a difficult time dealing with Zay Flowers, while Gardner was not targeted often but still had to watch a defense give up points in bunches. Warren, meanwhile, made only a limited impact despite the preseason hype around him, leaving Indianapolis with some immediate questions about how quickly those key names can settle in after a rough Week 1 showing. [Read more 🡒]
Colts Have One Growing Concern After A Far More Encouraging Loss
The Colts came out of Week 1 with something they badly needed after a long offseason: signs that the roster can still be competitive if the pieces settle in quickly. Even in a loss, the tone around Indianapolis was far more encouraging than the flat, discouraging openers some teams around the AFC put on tape, and the early ranking of conference teams reflects that distinction. There were enough positive individual performances to suggest the Colts are not staring at a broken start, just a team that has some sorting out to do.
Still, the postgame read is not all comfort. The broader AFC evaluation points to one growing concern for Indianapolis, and it is the kind that can linger if it is not corrected fast enough, especially with adjustments coming on both sides of the ball. The encouraging part is that the Colts are not far from looking like a different team, but the opening week also made clear that their margin for error is already thin. [Read more 🡒]
Colts Fans Have A Real Reason To Worry About CJ Allen
CJ Allens Week 1 absence stood out before the Colts even got deep into the game, because the rookie linebacker was healthy enough to suit up but never took the field. Shane Steichen said Allen was still working back from camp injuries and that the team is easing him into football shape, which helps explain the decision but does little to calm a fan base already watching a thin linebacker room with some concern.
The timing is what makes it matter for Indianapolis. The Colts were already dealing with limited depth at the position, and the issues there showed up again on Sunday, making Allens unused status feel even more notable. For a rookie expected to be part of the solution, this is the kind of situation that can linger until he is fully ready to help, and the Colts do not have much margin to wait around at linebacker. [Read more 🡒]